KUNG HSING at K 2022: Blown Film Trends for Food Packaging Films to be More Productive and Energy Efficient

Food packaging film is the largest application in blown film products. When the market gradually accepts three-layer co-extrusion to manufacture food packaging films, Kung Hsing (KUNG HSING PLASTIC MACHINERY) believes that five-layer co-extrusion will be a better and more favorable option in the future.

In the past, the requirements of food packaging were only safety, hygiene, and convenience for transportation. However, with the effect of globalization and more modern convenience needs, the market demands an upgrade to food packaging. Hence, the new food packaging needs to withstand heat for microwave food, moreover, as food products were traded worldwide, the strength and durability are also expected to be able to withstand a long period of shipping time or frozen temperature for storage. Thus, the multi-layer film or the lamination film came into being.

Though the Composite Film is Tough, It also Poses Challenges to the Blown Film Technology

The composite film may be a bit tougher than you may expect, not only can it block the light, air and liquid, but also heat-resistant and safe without releasing any plasticizer. Such a multi-functional and strong composite film have a solid structure and high mechanical strength, it achieves this strength by combining aluminum, PA, and BOPP. However, the diversity in raw materials also brings challenges to the film-blowing process and machinery.

The traditional single-layer extrusion can no longer cope with the production of multi-layer composite film, nowadays, the three-layer co-extrusion is the mainstream on the market. However, Kung Hsing believes that to truly increase production capacity and be capable of more diverse materials, the five-layer co-extrusion will be more efficient than the three-layer co-extrusion, and it saves the energy!
 

Five Layer Co-Extrusion Blown Film Machine

Five Layers are more Productive and More Energy Efficient than Three Layers

"Generally, in three layers co-extrusion, three large extruders are used, in order to achieve high production capacity, the required electricity and energy consumption are large. But, with five smaller extruders, the same production capacity can be easily achieved, and the demands for multiple materials can be met. The film produced by the five layer co-extrusion has stronger mechanical strength, and its impact resistance and ductility are better than that of the three-layer film, which is quite beneficial to the customer." Kung Hsing's Vice President Kun Lin Tsai analyzed it incisively.

"The efficiency of Kung Hsing's current five-layer film blowing machine can reach 0.37 kWh/kg, and the power consumption is 20% lower than that of the three-layer machine, which makes customers very satisfied with us."

Kung Hsing's R&D and design of machine efficiency, productivity, and energy saving are in line with the current ESG trend, and also in line with the goals of environmental protection, circular economy, and digitization proposed by K 2022.

The pursuit of digital manufacturing is more accurate and efficient production, reducing waste, and achieving the goals of high quality and high productivity. This is consistent with what Kung Hsing pursues!

Three Layer Co-Extrusion Blown Film Machine

A New Challenge for Film Blowing - PVA Water-soluble Film

Driven by ESG concerns in the past two years, climate protection and circular economy are also themes put forward by Messe Düsseldorf, making biodegradable materials the focus of the K Show this year.

"Biodegradable materials in film blowing machines is a recent trend. As early as 20 years ago, Kung Hsing helped customers to successfully develop and manufacture them," said Stephanie, special assistant to the chairman of Kung Hsing. "The current development is towards PVA water-soluble membranes, which are the latest biodegradable materials."

The biggest challenge of film-blowing machine equipment for biodegradable materials is research and mastery of materials, there are as many as 20 kinds of biodegradable materials, and each material properties are not the same. Therefore, the screw design in the extruder and the die must be subject to rigorous design.

Precise Moldflow Analysis Makes the Design More Accurate!

The film blowing machine newly developed by Kung Hsing has undergone advanced moldflow analysis software in the key units of the screw and multi-layer die. In terms of screws, it is carefully designed according to the raw material formula used by customers and product requirements. In the part of the multi-layer die, based on the customer's final product requirements, the raw material formulation and layer distribution are designed and simulated in the moldflow analysis software in advance. This process will enable Kung Hsing to find the film layer distribution error, greatly improving the success rate! Moreover, it also allows Kung Hsing's blown film equipment to achieve stable and high-quality standards.

In addition, Kung Hsing will also demonstrate to the world their latest winder at K 2022, which combines three functions: Surface type, Contact drive type, and Gap winding. The operator may switch the winder mode according to different materials and needs.

After three years of the epidemic, Kung Hsing is honored to meet old and new customers who have not seen each other for a long time at K 2022. You are very welcome to our booth to exchange more technologies and experiences in film-blowing equipment and explore different possibilities for the film-blowing industry’s future.

KUNG HSING Booth No in K 2022: C18 / Hall 16

KUNG HSING in K 2019